Batting

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Oregon State junior Dylan Davis homered and drove in four runs while also pitching 4.1 scoreless innings to lead No. 4 Oregon State to an 8-1 win on Tuesday at John Smith Field.

Oregon State (28-8) earned a split in the two game series after the Hornets rallied for a 7-6 victory on Monday night at Raley Field. Junior Rhys Hoskins homered for the only run for Sacramento State (25-16), which was playing in front of its largest on-campus crowd of the season with an attendance of 903.

Davis lined a two-run homer to left off of Hornet freshman Sam Long with two away in the first inning, then drove in two more runs with a bases-loaded single in the third inning to put the Beavers up 4-0.

Also the OSU starting pitcher, Davis did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, and after the visitors added another run off a Hornet fielding error in the top of the fourth Sacramento State built a threat in the bottom of the fifth. Davis issued two walks and hit a batter to load the bases with one out, but junior Zack Reser came in and struck out Hoskins and got a fielders choice groundout from senior David Del Grande to escape the inning.

Oregon State would tack on three more runs in the seventh inning, with center fielder Jeff Hendrix driving in a pair with a double to deep left center and the Beavers adding another run on a fielders choice groundout. Hoskins got the Hornets on the board with a long home run over the scoreboard in left field off of Reser with one away in the eighth, but that would be the last scoring of the game.

Long, who pitched just two innings in a planned limited start, took his first collegiate loss while the Hornets lost for the first time in 10 Long starts this season. Reser earned the win to improve to 4-0 after allowing just one run over 4.1 innings. Sacramento State used six pitchers in the game, with freshmen Austin Ragsdale and Julian Barron combining for 4.2 scoreless innings while allowing only one hit.

Davis was one of three Beavers to record two-hit games while junior Scotty Burcham had a 2-for-3 line for the Hornets. Sophomore Nathan Lukes went 0-for-3 with a hit by pitch as his WAC-best hitting streak ended at 20 games. The homerun for Hoskins was his eighth of the season, now three more homers than any other WAC player has hit this year.

The Hornets return to WAC play this weekend at Bakersfield with games at 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.